Vehicle floor mat



Patented June 8, 1937 UNITED IsTAf'llzs lPATENT or-Fl'cla;l

VEHICLE FLoon MAT Helen M. Wilhelmy, Shaker Heights, Ohio, assignor to The Ohio Rubber Company, Willoughby, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio l.

Application May 111'935, serial No. 21,014

4 5 Claims. '.l'his invention relates to vehicle oor mats of the type having surface ornamentation, and as its principal object aims to provide an improved mat of this kind having a novel surface characterlstic which renders the mat attractive in appearance and enables the same to be readily cleaned. -r l Another object of' the invention is to provide an improved vehicle floor mat having ribs thereon extending in substantially continuous lines between two adjacent sides of the mat.

Still another object of the invention is to'provide an improved vehicle floor mat comprising a rubber Wear sheet having ribs and grooves molded thereon and extending in substantially continuous lines from an end of the mat to a side thereof.`

A further object of the invention 'is to provide a novel floor mat for use in a vehicle compart# ment having a door opening, Comprising a wear sheet having ribs and grooves on the surface thereof and extending in substantially continuous lines from an end of the sheet toward said door opening. -I

It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved iioor mat for a vehicle compartment having door openings,lcomprising `avvear sheet having ribs and grooves covering substantially one-half of the sheet and extending in continuous lines which curve-toward one door opening,

and ribs and grooves covering substantially the other half of the sheet and extending in continuous lines which curve toward the other door opening.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description,

when taken in conjunction with the accompany-- ing sheet of drawing wherein- Fig. 1 is a plan Aview with partsbroken-away showing my novel floor mat in place in a vehicle compartment.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the oor mat-apart from the vehicle. I

Fig. 3 is a plan view of another floor mat embodying my invention but having a different surface pattern.

Fig. 4 is a partialv sectional viewr takenthrough the mat of Fig. 2 as indicated by thel line d---LA Fig. 5 is a similar sectional view of the mat 50 of Fig. 3 and taken asindicated bythe line 5-5.

Fig. 26 vis another-partial transverse sectional view taken through a lportion of the mat of Fig. 2 as indicated by line 6 6. .y

In the accompanying drawing to which detailed r reference will now be made, I have shown a ve` hicle door mat having a novel surface character.

istlc which renders the mat attractive in appearance yet which enables thev mat to be readily cleaned, as by brushing or sweeping, without rem moving the same from the vehicle compartment.

While the mats shown inthe drawing represent What I now regard to be the preferred form of my invention, it will be understood that they are illustrative only and that ,the principle of the l invention may be embodied in various other mat constructions. n

In Fig. 1 of the drawing I have represented a vehicle I0 having a compartment II in vwhich my novel floor mat I2 has been fitted. The compartment illustrated in this instance is a drivers 4 compartment having the usual horizontal' floor I4 of the vehicle compartment and to conform` substantially to the shape or outline of the compartment. The wear sheet may be formed of any suitable material such as a thermoplastic and,

for example, may comprise a resilient and exible layer or sheet of-vulcanized rubber. The mat may be applied directly to the flooring of the compartment or may be applied to the flooring with any suitable cushioning and insulating layer or back` ing therebetween. It will be understood, of course, that the mat may be provided with suitable openings I6 therethrough to accommodate the various vehicle controls. 'I'hese openings may be formed through the rmat during the manufacture thereof or may be cut therethrough in connection with the tting of the mat to the vehicle compartment.

`In accordance with my invention I provide the -wear sheetwith a novel surface characteruistic in the form of ribs and groovesl and I9, which are .so arranged as to permit dust or other foreign matter to be readily swept or brushed along the surface of the mat and at the :same time moved toward the doorv openings I5.

This rib' and groovearrangement is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 ofthe drawing, wherein I show the ribs and grooves extending betweenan end of the mat, lin this instance the'front or forward end 20, and the two adjacent sides 2| and22 v thereof.- The ribs and grooves preferably extend in substantially continuous lines, sothat the dust or other foreign matter can be brushed or swept therealong without they need of any brushing across or transversely of the ribs.

Theribs may be arranged in various ways to" secure this desired result, but, as shown in this instance, I show the ribs and grooves running' longitudinally of the vehicle and extending rearwardly from the end toward the opposite end 23 for a substantial portion of the length of the mat, and thenvcurving outwardly towardthe oppcsite sides 2| and 22. *With* this arrangement it will be seen that allor nearly all of the ribs and grooves can be arranged to extend in continuous lines, with one end of the ribs and grooves at or adjacent the end portion 20 of the mat and the opposite end at or adjacent one of the sides of themat. Furthermore, it will be seen that with the rib and groove arrangement which I have just described, the ribs and grooves can be made to terminate at that side portion of the mat which is-substantially coextensive with the door opening l5, so that `dust or other foreign material, which has beenv brushed or swept along the ribs .and groovesand away from the end portion 20, can be ejected through the door yopenings by a continuation of the sweeping movement.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the ribs and grooves may be arranged so that the ribs and grooves which cover one-half of the mat will extend in straight parallel lines for a portion o f thelength of the mat and then curve outwardly and terminate adjacent the door opening at one side of the vehicle compartment, and the ribs and groove which cover the otherV half of the mat will extend in straight parallel lines for a portion ofthe length of the mat and then curve outwardly and terminate adjacent the door opening at the other side of the vehicle compartment. 'I'he ribs and grooves-may, if desired, be carried out to the extreme edges of the mat, but I prefer to'terminate them just inwardly of the mat edges so as to leave a margin or border 24 therearound. The ribs'a'nd grooves may be formed on the surface of the wear sheet by any suitable method or apparatus, but I prefer .to form them by a molding operation, preferably during the--vulcanizing of the rubber or rubberlike material constituting the wearsheet. In forming these ribs and grooves I prefer to have the ribs extend or project above the surface of thesheet and the surface of the border portion 24, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the foreign matter being swept or' brushed along the grooves can lreadily pass over the border without obstruction.

In Fig. A3 of the drawing Ihave shown another vehicle floor mat 26, which is generally similar to that already described, and comprises a wear sheet of rubber, or the like, having ribs and the ribs of the-mat of Fig. 3 are arranged in 1 uniformly spacedgroups as shown in Fig. 5.

From the foregoing description and ,accompanyingdrawing it will now be readily seen that I have provided a vehicle floor nat having a novel surface characteristic, such that/foreign matter can be readily brushed or swept along the mat and ejected through the door kopeningswithout the need of sweeping or brushing the material transversely of 'ribaror other surface irregularities, which would result in much dust and scat-A tering of the material being swept. It willv also now be readily understood that with the rib and` groove arrangement which I have provided the ribs and grooves extend in substantially continuous lines along the mat and then curve outwardlyand terminate at or adjacent a door opening,

\` .such that the dust or other foreign material can described, but regard the invention as including such changes and modifications as do not involve a departure from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A vehicle oor mat comprising a wear sheet of rubber or the like having ribs and grooves molded thereon in an arrangement to facilitate cleaning, said ribs and grooves' starting adjacent one end of the sheet and extending longitudinally for a substantial' portion of the length of the sheet and then curving loutwardly and terminating adjacent a side of the sheet.

2. A vehicle floor mat comprising awear sheet of rubber or thelike having a rib pattern on the surface thereof with the ribs arranged to facilitate cleaning of the mat surface, said ribs starting adjacent one end'of the sheet and extending in substantially straight parallel lines for a sub- .stantial portion of the length of thesheet and then curving outwardly and. terminating adjacent a side of the sheet. j

3. A vehicle floor mat comprising a wear sheet having ribs on the surface thereof and disposed to facilitate cleaning ofithe mat surface, said ribs starting adjacent one end of the mat and extending longitudinally thereof for a substantial por- 'tion of the ,length of the mat and then curving outwardly with substantially one-half of the ribs curving outwardly toward one sideV of the mat and substantially another half Vof the ribs curving outwardly toward the other side of the mat.

4. In combination with a vehicle compartment having opposed door openings, a floor mat comprising a wear sheet having ribs onthe surface thereof and disposed to facilitate cleaning of the mat surface, said vribs starting adjacent an end of the' mat and extending longitudinally for a substantial portion of the length of the mat and then curving outwardly with substantially one half of the ribs curving outwardly toward one of said door 'openings and substantially another half i the ribs curving outwardlytoward the other of said door openings.

5. In combination with a vehicle' compartment having opposed door openings, a oorimat comprising a wear sheet having\ri on the surface thereof and disposed to facilitate c1 g of the mat surface, said ribs starting adjace an 'end of the mat and extending longitudinally hereof to a point approximately opposite one side \pf the door openings and then curving outwardly with substantially one-half' ofthe ribs curving outwardly toward one of said door openings and sub/tantially another half of therribs curving out# 1 wa ly toward the other of saiddoor openings. 

